Effects of Dolomite and Oyster Shell on Nitrogen Processes in an Acidic Mine Soil Applied with Livestock Manure Compost

Mine soils are usually unfavorable for plant growth due to their acidic condition and low contents of organic matter and nutrients. To investigate the effect of organic material and lime on nitrogen processes in an acidic metal mine soil, we conducted an incubation experiment with treating livestock manure compost, dolomite, and oyster shell and measured soil pH, dehydrogenase activity, and concentration of soil inorganic N ($NH_4{^+}$ and $NO_3{^-}$). Compost increased not only soil inorganic N concentration, but also soil pH from 4.4 to 4.8 and dehydrogenase activity from 2.4 to $3.9{\mu}g\;TPF\;g^{-1}day^{-1}$. Applying lime with compost significantly (P<0.05) increased soil pH (5.9-6.4) and dehydrogenase activity ($4.3-7.0{\mu}g\;TPF\;g^{-1}day^{-1}$) compared with applying only compost. Here, the variation in dehydrogenase activity was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with that in soil pH. Soil inorganic N decreased with time by 14 days after treatment (DAT) due to N immobilization, but increased with time after 14 DAT. At 28 DAT, soil inorganic N was significantly (P<0.05) higher in the lime treatments than the only compost treatment. Especially the enhanced dehydrogenase activity in the lime treatments would increase soil inorganic N due to the favored mineralization of organic matter. Although compost and lime increased soil microbial biomass and enzyme activity, ammonia oxidation still proceeded slowly. We concluded that compost and lime in acidic mine soils could increase soil microbial activity and inorganic N concentration, but considerable ammonium could remain for a relatively long time.